Men's Fencing

Men's Fencing Battles to Split Weekend at MACFA "B" vs. "C" Bouts

Gabriel Braun

Feb 17, 2019

NEWARK, N.J. – The Haverford College men's fencing team wrapped up the regular season portion of its conference slate at the MACFA "B" vs. "C" bouts over the weekend. The Fords soundly defeated Yeshiva and Army West Point, but fell to rival Stevens and host NJIT. With the split results on Sunday, Haverford concludes the MACFA duals with an 8-5 overall record among its conference foes.

Haverford defeated rival Stevens in both the foil and sabre disciplines but a tough Ducks' epee squad proved too much to overcome in the final team score. The Fords' foilists and sabrists continued that success throughout the day as each finished with weapon squad wins during three of the four rounds. Both squad's individuals wrapped up the day with 25-11 combined records.

The foil squad was flawless in Haverford's victories against Yeshiva and Army as each of Haverford's trio was a perfect 6-0 during the middle rounds. Alton Wiggers and Carter Langen both secured two key victories against the rival Ducks to help their squad emerge with a 5-4 victory. Wiggers capped his day with nine victories against just two defeats. Jack Leighninger and Langen both ended the day with 8-4 marks.

Sabre blanked Yeshiva and rolled up an impressive 6-3 win against rival Stevens. David Parker was the only sabrist to fence in all four rounds as he racked up eight wins. The senior won at least one bout during each of those rounds, sweeping the bouts against Yeshiva and adding two victories against NJIT and Army. John Hare sported a 7-2 record for his squad as he was perfect against Stevens and Army before adding another win against NJIT. Kagan Harris was stellar during his two rounds in the lineup, compiling a 5-1 record as he helped the Haverford team to wins. First-year Nicholas Conroy matched those five bout wins with three victories of his own against Yeshiva and two more critical bouts in the weapon squad victory against Stevens.

Haverford's epee quickly bounced back from a tough result against Stevens as four different fencers won a bout for that squad throughout the day. Co-captain Gabriel Braun and Raynor Bond-Ashpole tied for the lead among their squadmates with four bout triumphs. Braun was a perfect 3-0 against Army and also took down an opponent from Yeshiva. Bond-Ashpole was perfect against Yeshiva while adding his fourth win against the host Highlanders. Co-captain Kadan Lottick also secured three victories during a perfect round individually against Army, while first-year Adrian Velonis added two more wins to the squad during that same round.

Men's fencing will have the upcoming weekend away from the competition strips as the Fords prepare for the year-end MACFA Championships where both team and individual accolades will be on the line. Drew will serve as the host of the 2019 MACFA Championships which are set for Sunday, March 3.